


Web of Fate

by tiffthom



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Character Death, F/M, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 06:11:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10893366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiffthom/pseuds/tiffthom
Summary: They were entangled in something she did not want, something he didn't try hard enough not to want.





	Web of Fate

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cavity](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10892994) by [Bawgdan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bawgdan/pseuds/Bawgdan). 



" _Don't close your eyes_ ," she told herself. 

Naraku crawled into her, searing epidermis, and still pressing deeper, bursting her cells, trying to transplant his evil heart into her. And it was a carbon copy of fifty years ago and a day in the middle of spring when she discarded her battle-readiness for the sake of love, and he sliced through her like the blades of grass tearing underneath his feet. Naraku was quick to show her the folly in rejecting him, and she died hating the wrong man. 

Kikyō wanted to fall asleep because there was a chance the pain wouldn’t color her dreams. She could know peace from the hell he trapped her in. But it would be no ordinary rest. If her will couldn’t outlast his, she would die and the first shame had been his alone to carry. She wouldn’t disgrace herself as his prey yet again.

The redness of his eyes looked like the blood that gushed out of her shoulder, a few shades darker than her _hakama_. If she slept, she would probably see that day again, hear Kaede’s screams and pleas again, and feel the flames eating her body. She was only half dead when they burned her. She’d been too weak to cry out or move so she closed her eyes. 

He’d caught up to her again and whisked her to his stolen castle where she resided with him in the basement as his body bubbled and transfigured into everything unsightly. She vomited once and he drove a branchy finger through her chest. 

“Disgusting,” he said.

He always had plenty of nerve even when parts of his lips broke off into the cups of water she used to offer him. 

The next time her throat squeezed from an acid-burn, she swallowed it and he laughed. Slow hours turned to days, and she lost track of time, and wondered when she would forget how the sun felt. He starved her of fresh souls and exhaustion blackened her eyes. She was tired and hungry, but if she closed her eyes, she’d die and she wasn’t ready yet. He had to go first. It was the only way she’d ever follow him.

“You are fighting rest like a child, Kikyō.” 

He reached out to her with a clearly-defined hand this time, but it was still hot and it felt like he had grabbed a fistful of the ghost of her heart. 

“Accept me, Kikyō. What do you care about the jewel, huh? Has it not cost you your life?”

Her light kept the jewel pure, but he wanted to darken her and thus, it. 

“You gave me the shards. It’s nearly complete with your help. Just a little more.” 

She was still a fool. Why did she believe Onigumo still desired her when he let demons chew his tongue and crack his ribs as he welcomed them inside of his body? _Onigumo_ had killed her, but she knew everything. It was what kept Kaede away just enough to be left blind in one eye; her belief that she _knew everything._ She was still a fool.

Succumbing to his darkness felt worse than dying. It reminded her of when her soul was tugged back to the world of the living. She didn’t want to be a part of it anymore, and now she would become a part of him. Her pride had crushed everything except her.

Her eyes were heavy with the threat of night. No one would care if she died. Like Naraku said, she’d helped him to this point so maybe, once again, with the last of her strength, she could fight so she let him consume her, and his laughter throttled the wooden beams of the room. 

The pink glow of the jewel changed from purple to an ashen pitch. He kept laughing. Memories of her tending to him as he stubbornly held onto a pitiful existence rushed back, but he kept laughing. Spears of light sprang out of him from every way and he clutched his chest as his blood oozed. He laughed until he coughed. He clung until he heard her voice. Years of being steps ahead of everyone else had caught up to him, and it was his turn to play the fool. With everything she had, the force of her soul enveloped his darkness, purifying it and taking his life as she laid down her own.

She was still a fool and so was he. Perhaps this is what fate intended.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: 'Don't close your eyes'


End file.
